GotM April 09: Champions of Mandalore

Great organization skills, an interesting background story and lots of activity in the official forums are only some of the traits
our second guild of the month has.

The Champions of Mandalore evoked our interest because they are different from the usual Jedi and Sith guilds. Their detailed background story is based on the way of the Mandalorians which makes an interesting setting for roleplay and PvP. Their website just as their general community spirit promises quality.

But the leaders are more than simply well organised - we also (unfortunately) had to test their patience! SWTOR-Station sat down to chat with them, but due to our own mistake the whole chat log was lost. Others would have been angry, but the Champions sat down and answered our questions again per e-mail. This spirit has to be rewarded!


SWTOR-Station: Please introduce yourself to the community. Who are you personally? What are you doing?

Heimdall: My name is Brian, and I'm a 20 year old college student. In my free time I like to lift weights, play basketball, play pool, hang out with my friends and girlfriend, and of course hang out with my vode (brothers) in the Champions of Mandalore. I never had seen Star Wars until it was re-released into theaters when I was back in elementary school - since then I've been hooked on the movies, games, and books. I am Mandalore of the Champions of Mandalore - the overall leader of the clan.

Sindorin: My name is James and I am 22 years old. I'm a veteran of the US Army, and I currently work part time as well as attend school. I have been playing MMOs for about two years and play Guild Wars, SWG and World of Warcraft. I serve as a Champion in the Guild.

Rynech: My real name is Sean, and I'm 18 years old. I'm currently attending Georgia State University. I've spent and indescribable amount of time in SWG, but I've also dabbled in other MMOs, like Guild Wars and Age of Conan. I am also a Champion.

SWTOR-Station: How would you describe your guild in about 2-3 sentences?

Heimdall: I would say that we are a dedicated, active, and mature clan. We want to have fun, but we also want to be a successful clan in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Right now we are trying to build the best possible clan we can to achieve both of those goals.

SWTOR-Station: Which faction would you choose if only the two confirmed ones will be available and why?

Rynech: Well, this really depends. If it were up to us, we would side Republic; however, it's up in the air, as the mention of Mandalorians in the Bounty Hunter class, which is Sith only, and the information about the Mandalorians blockading the Republic in the timeline Bioware released, is making it more and more evident that we may have to side with the Sith to play as Mandalorians. Basically, we'll side with whichever faction let's us be Mandos, because that's what's most important to the guild.

SWTOR-Station:  What kind of goals have you set for later in the game?

Sindorin: Our long term goal, naturally, is to become the most professional and successful guild in the game. We can accomplish this by maintaining our RolePlay attitude and adherence to Mandalorian culture and the values of honor, loyalty and service that come with it. We believe in taking all aspects of our community and combining the strengths of every member, and using that to be the best guild in SW:TOR.

SWTOR-Station: Since when does your guild exist and how many members do you already have?

Heimdall: Our guild was officially formed on October 19th, 2008 by myself and another member of the BioWare/SWTOR community named DeaconX, known within our clan as Daxter Juno. At the time the clan was formed the game had not even been announced yet, but we all had a very strong suspicion that the game that was being announced on October 21st was Star Wars: The Old Republic. We were one of the first SWTOR guilds and the first Mandalorian clan in SWTOR, and that's something we are very proud of.

As to how many members we have - it depends on what you criteria for being a member is. If you're talking about someone who put forth a great application and were accepted, then that number is in the 60's. However, if you're talking about people who were accepted and are still active on a daily basis, then the answer would be forty at last count. We are in the process of purging all of our inactive members at the moment, as we want to go into the game with roughly 50 active members, although anything over that would be a bonus. A lot of the guys who are inactive now have stated they are going to return to us as an active member when the game is released.

SWTOR-Station: Do you have a member limit or do you with “the more the merrier”?

Rynech: At this point, we are still currently recruiting, but the CoM's unofficial motto when it comes to our member base is quality over quantity. We don't want to get flooded with a bunch of inactives who aren't going to contribute to the guild, so we want to build a solid, dependable user base. We may invoke a member limit, but it hasn't been done yet.

SWTOR-Station: How can we imagine your guild hierarchy? Do you have ranks which your members can hold?

Sindorin: CoM operates under the basic philosophy of a Meritocracy. Meritocracy is a form of government wherein rank and status is granted to members that display dedication, activity and service to the state, or guild in this instance. There are currently four ranks, and they are in order from least to greatest: Recruit, Mando'ade, Warlord, and Champion. Mandalore is also a rank, but it is occupied by one person, and that is Heimdall Surtr.

The daily decisions of the guild is for the most part handled by Mandalore and the Champions collectively. The Champions advise and assist in all matters relating to guild affairs. Mandalore however, retains the final say as well. We believe that this is the best way to ensure stability as well as provide a stable and fun environment for all of our members.

SWTOR-Station: If somebody is interested in joining your guild, what does he have to consider when applying? Is there a minimum age or a roleplayed introduction necessary?

Rynech: Well, we prefer our members to be 16 or older, but this is mainly a guideline; if an applicant shows maturity, someone who is under the recommended age limit can be accepted into the guild. Also, yes, a roleplaying sample is required, but members aren't required to RP. An RP sample, along with showing someone's skill as a writer and an RPer, helps us to gauge an applicant's maturity level.

SWTOR-Station:How do you pass the time until SWTOR is finally released?

Sindorin: A great many of us have play games like Star Wars Galaxies, World of Warcraft and even Day of Defeat: Source. We usually enjoy playing these games as a group so that it gets us comfortable working together as a team. We also spend a great deal of time role playing, since it's a major aspect of our community. All of us have an important and unique character that has a special story to tell within our community.

SWTOR-Station: Where do most of your guild members come from?

Heimdall: The majority of our members come from the Star Wars: The Old Republic forums. Word of mouth is also a great recruitment tool; we have a lot of members who have referred there real life friends or those who they have played games with in the past.

SWTOR-Station: If there should be different servers for PvP, PvE and Rp, on which server would your guild like to play?

Heimdall: As a RP PvP clan, we are naturally looking for a RP PvP server. If a RP PvP server isn't available then I think you will see us on a PvP server. After all, you can still RP on a PvP server, but you can't really have an open PvP experience like we want on a RP PvE server.

SWTOR-Station: Is there anything else which makes your guild stand out?

Heimdall: I would say that the thing that makes us stand out from some other guilds/clans is our absolute commitment to quality. Not only is our application fairly rigorous, but we also expect a lot from our members after they've been accepted. After accepting a member, they are classified as a "recruit," which is a rank that they hold for a month. After a month they are either promoted to "Mando'ade," or are let go from the clan. We are trying to build a reasonably sized clan of dedicated players before release, and we don't want members who don't contribute something to the clan. I would rather have 25 active members who are all constantly working to better the clan than 10 active ones and 40 inactive ones.

SWTOR-Station: Do you have a website or a forum? If yes, how can we reach it?

Heimdall: Yes we do. Our website is http://www.ChampionsOfMandalore.com and our forums can be reached under the community tab on our website or at http://www.teamsdforums.com/forums .

SWTOR-Station: If a developer would ask you: Which guild feature you would like to see in the game? – What would you answer?

Heimdall: I would like to see a lot of options for guild diplomacy - wars, alliances, coalitions, and other things of that nature. Relationships between guilds brings a lot of depth to a game, I believe.

Sindorin: I would like to see a Guild Vault system similar to World of Warcraft. I'd also like to have tabs enabled in this, so that there is the ability to have a separate vault for resources, loot and money in the game.

Rynech: The guild feature that I would most want to see is a "Guild Capital Ship", or something to that extent. A ship where guild-members can be moved en masse, or a place to relax and hang out if it's closer than wherever the guild's base will be located.